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“It’ll only sting a little for a minute.”
“Aren’t you going to numb it or something first?” Seth insisted between choppy breaths.
“If you’re going to ask me that, you might as well hand me your man card. Jesus, it’s only a couple of stitches.”
“Yeah, in my skin.”
“Okay, I’ll give you a numbing spray.” He withdrew a little bottle, and a fine mist of something sterile-smelling settled over the back of his hand. “Will that do or should I call you a wah-mulance.”
“Your bedside manner sucks.”
Beck laughed. “Sit back and close your eyes.”
Seth dropped his lids and focused on breathing slowly, filling his mind with the most distracting visions of Heavenly he could fathom. He felt a tiny pinprick, then a tug at his knuckles, then nothing.
“How many teeth do you figure Sanchez has left now?” Beck filled the silence.
“Maybe enough to strain his oatmeal for the next few weeks.” Seth smiled. “But hopefully not. I notice you beat him with your feet instead of your hands. Smart.”
“Can’t damage the fingers. They’ve earned me this amazing view.” He fell quiet again as Seth felt another gentle pull on his flesh. “I still can’t believe the power behind your punches. You should have been a fucking boxer.”
“Nah, I don’t like my brains being scrambled.”
“I have to admit, I enjoyed mangling that bastard. What he expected from Heavenly was fucked up. I think that’s what made mashing his dick under my heel so much fun.”
Seth grunted in response. “What did you do with our bloody clothes?”
“Trashed them. I got rid of the evidence in the community dumpster this morning.”
“The police won’t look too hard for us. They’ll probably think it was a drug deal gone bad or gang retaliation. That kind of shit goes down all the time, and Sanchez is hardly the innocent-victim type. So the cops will save their resources for someone who actually needs them.”
“That’s good news.” Seth heard Beck snip at something, then the doctor slathered his knuckles with a thick ointment, covered it with a bandage, then sat back. “You’re done.”
Seth opened his eyes. “Really?”
“Really.”
Already, it felt less angry.
“Thanks. You could have been a real dick about it and stabbed me.” Instead, Beck had used a surprisingly gentle hand.
“I thought about it.”
Seth reached for his coffee again. When Beck went inside to wash his hands, he tried to get his head together.
They needed to talk. Last night, they’d only danced around the elephant in the room. Now it was time to look the bitch in the face and tango.
Beck stepped out onto the balcony again. “She’s still sleeping.”
Just as well. “She needs it. And we need this time to figure things out.”
“You give everything I said last night more thought?” Beck slid into his chair.
“Yeah. Kind of hard not to.” Seth dragged in a shuddering breath and paused. Once he went down this path, he couldn’t go back, not unless Heavenly sent him in another direction. And the more he thought about Beck’s theories, the more he suspected that would never happen.
For the foreseeable future at least, she needed them both.
“And?”
Seth peered over at him, squinting against the sun. “Could you really share her, even temporarily?”
“Am I thrilled about it? No. But we’re Doms. Though we may not have been acting like it lately, we both know the needs of the sub come first.”
“Sure, but Heavenly doesn’t even know she’s a sub. Hell, I deeply suspect she is, but we have no proof—”
“Actually, I do.”
Seth tensed. What had the doctor done to her? What had Heavenly let him do? “Oh?”
“Before you snarl like a damn dog, no, I didn’t tie her to a spanking bench and beat her ass. I’ve been a good boy.” He grinned. “Mostly. But I did take her to an exhibit of BDSM art.”
He had to give the doctor credit; that idea was fucking brilliant. “Really?”
“She’s interested.”
Seth filed that information in the oh, hell yes drawer. But he couldn’t let his dick take him off on a bunny—or rather, a kitty—trail right now. “Good to know…but even if the needs of the sub come first, you and I both know we can’t force her to accept us or our help.”
“Last night, she reached her breaking point. She’s out of options and she knows it.”
“Still, she’s going to come out fighting.” Seth shook his head. “She may have abandonment issues, but she’s used to doing everything alone. And that girl has lots of pride.”
“She does. I didn’t say it would be easy to convince her to let us do the heavy lifting. I simply said we had to, for her sake.”
“You know, we could—in theory—help her together, make sure she has three meals a day, a safe roof over her head, new clothes, and a secure future on the horizon… Speaking of which, I tucked this away last night.” He handed the piece of paper to Beck. “Apparently, her fall tuition is past due. I’ll call and take care of it in the morning. I assume no one’s there on a Sunday.”
